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kab449 · 01-14-2014, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr4Film

Now that makes total sense as to his problem.

However, it's obvious that the Fleetwood engineering staff has no common sense when it came to designing that electrical set up.

If one were to have a problem with their house batteries or the 12 VDC wiring, regardless of whether you are hooked to shore power or have the generator running, your fridge won't work.

What a waste of brains and food when it all spoils if that occurs.

If it were me, I would change that at least for the fridge and run a dedicated 120 VAC line to the rear of the fridge that also works off of the inverter.

Just my two cents worth of common sense.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

I don't have my coach here now, so I can't check for sure, but I'm pretty sure the inverter can be set to just pass the pedestal power through without producing the 120volt from the battery bank. it would be necessary to change the setting before traveling so the fridge is powered unless you plan to run the generator.
A little more to pay attention to but I will never give up my residential refrigerator.

Bruadair · 01-14-2014, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr4Film

Now that makes total sense as to his problem.

However, it's obvious that the Fleetwood engineering staff has no common sense when it came to designing that electrical set up.

If one were to have a problem with their house batteries or the 12 VDC wiring, regardless of whether you are hooked to shore power or have the generator running, your fridge won't work.

What a waste of brains and food when it all spoils if that occurs.

If it were me, I would change that at least for the fridge and run a dedicated 120 VAC line to the rear of the fridge that also works off of the inverter.

Just my two cents worth of common sense.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

My bad, I explained the refrigerator part incorrectly. Remember, I don't have a residential refrigerator. I can use propane or 110v for the fridge. When using 110v for the fridge (here's the correction) power is in fact provided by shore or generator power. However the control board uses 12 volts dc, regardless if the fridge is set for propane or 110v. So if running on shore power as Roger was if the disconnect was turned off there would be no power to the control board and thus the fridge would not work. Dometic made the control panel to work this way so not sure if it was Fleetwood's engineering problem. One could bypass the 12v line for the control board from the disconnect directly to the battery, but then that would defeat the purpose of the 12 volt disconnect, wouldn't it?

It sounds like Roger's motorhome is set up the same way, at least by the symptoms he is describing (provided he does not have the residential refrigerator)

kab449 · 01-14-2014, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruadair

It sounds like Roger's motorhome is set up the same way, at least by the symptoms he is describing (provided he does not have the residential refrigerator)

Check post #1. It states he has a residential refrigerator.

Dr4Film · 01-14-2014, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruadair

My bad, I explained the refrigerator part incorrectly. Remember, I don't have a residential refrigerator. I can use propane or 110v for the fridge. When using 110v for the fridge (here's the correction) power is in fact provided by shore or generator power. However the control board uses 12 volts dc, regardless if the fridge is set for propane or 110v. So if running on shore power as Roger was if the disconnect was turned off there would be no power to the control board and thus the fridge would not work. Dometic made the control panel to work this way so not sure if it was Fleetwood's engineering problem. One could bypass the 12v line for the control board from the disconnect directly to the battery, but then that would defeat the purpose of the 12 volt disconnect, wouldn't it?

It sounds like Roger's motor-home is set up the same way, at least by the symptoms he is describing (provided he does not have the residential refrigerator)

Actually, yours would be totally different than the OP's because he has a residential fridge.

Your fridge should be plugged into a duplex that is NOT driven by the Inverter. That's the only way it can automatically switch over to LPG when it detects no shore power or generator power. Also, your fridge has a control board that NEEDS 12 VDC for it to power up.

When you have a residential fridge it does NOT use any 12 VDC to power any control board. However, it does need to be plugged into a dedicated Inverter driven duplex. That circuit should NOT be dependent on any 12 VDC whatsoever. If there happens to be a relay involved switching the power on and off then it needs to be changed.

My residential fridge will run regardless of the 12 VDC system except when there is no shore or generator power then it requires a good set of batteries for the Inverter to draw upon to keep the fridge working.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

Roger G · 01-14-2014, 06:56 PM

The inverter being the problem sounds reasonable but I did check the inverter and reset it without any success. It just seems odd to me that the TV and fridge would always work off the batteries and inverter even when on shore power. I'll do more research into what powers what and when.

kab449 · 01-20-2014, 07:09 PM

Just got my coach back from having warranty work done on it and checked the Inverter. It is a Tripp and has a slide switch on it that allows you to switch it to charge only and shut the inverter part down when you are connected to shore power for an extended time. In this mode the receptacles tied to the inverter still are powered by the shore line or generator. You do have to remember to switch it back to inverter when traveling. It does have a remote port which would allow you to change the settings from inside the coach. Probably have to buy the remote and connect it.

lijbs · 01-20-2014, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kab449

Just got my coach back from having warranty work done on it and checked the Inverter. It is a Tripp and has a slide switch on it that allows you to switch it to charge only and shut the inverter part down when you are connected to shore power for an extended time. In this mode the receptacles tied to the inverter still are powered by the shore line or generator. You do have to remember to switch it back to inverter when traveling. It does have a remote port which would allow you to change the settings from inside the coach. Probably have to buy the remote and connect it.

Keith,

Sorry I didn't see your post earlier. Might have saved you from reading some non-relevant replies. We too have a 2014 36LA and use the operating mode switch on our inverter to switch to charge only when on shore power for extended periods. This means that the incoming 120 volt is channeled right through the inverter to the outlets that are normally supplied power from by the inverter. As you point out when on the road you do need to set the switch back to the Auto position. If you have your DIP switches set for "Auto" operation make sure that you set the proper cutoff voltage so that if there is a power surge or a brown out your inverter will cutout at the right point. If left in the Auto mode and the DIP's aren't set right there might be a campground power issue that will trip your inverter off. This is probably what happened when you first discovered the problem!

Our coach has the Tripp 1250 which seems to be just adequate for the residential fridge and the the 40" with dvd and home theater on at the same time. Anything more than that might be too much and require breaker resetting. I am going to install the remote next month so I'll let you know if the advantages justify the cost. Not having to go into the inverter compartment sounds pretty good to me.

All that aside, I hope you are enjoying your coach. You know you are in possession of one of the industries finest RV's. We love ours and we are really chompin' at the bit for the upcoming season! Perhaps we'll meet on the road!

Hope this helps!

gemini5362 · 01-20-2014, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruadair

Roger,

We have an identical floorplan however it's a 2014 Fleetwood Bounder 35K so our set up might be different. We do not have a residential refrigerator. No matter if we are plugged in to shore power or not, the refrigerator and audio video equipment run off only the inverter. Thus the wiring used to power the tv, bluray and refrigerator is only power by the inverter and never powered by shore power, the two are totally separate circuits. If we turn off the 12v disconnect we disable 12 volt power to the inverter thus no 110vac goes to the tvs or refrigerator, we will still have 110v at all the outlets, water heater and the like as long as we're on generator or shore power. From your description it sounds like you are wired as we are.

IF you do not have a residential refrigerator then I am assuming you have a gas/electric refrigerator. It is my understanding that those are run off of 12 volts not 120VAC. The inverter will only power items that run off of 120VAC.

gemini5362 · 01-20-2014, 09:27 PM

Roger,

In my allegro bus almost all of the 120 vac receptacles have inverter marked n them. Even on shore power the power to these receptacles goes through the inverter. I plugged in a space heater to an inverter and my wife turned on the microwave while it was plugged in and overloaded the inverter. It took a bit of work to figure out how to reset it. I would imagine as other posters have suggested that when your wife turned off the 12 volt disconnect that turning it back on reset the inverter.

gemini5362 · 01-20-2014, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr4Film

Roger,

Find the solenoid(s) that is activated by the Battery Disconnect (Cut-Off) switch and bypass the solenoid.

You will never have another episode like you experienced.

Mine has been bypassed for over 9 years now and I have never missed using that switch for one second.

Those solenoids are a HIGH failure device so it doesn't help by replacing them as it will happen again and again and again.

Bypass and be done with it forever.

Oops, almost forgot to answer your question about how 12 VDC would affect some 120 VAC devices. I would suspect that you have an EMS system that will shed devices when on 30 amp service. That specific EMS board requires 12 VDC to power up. There are various 120 VAC devices that are powered through that board. This may or may not be the reason as it's only a guess.

I would have to see your specific rig to answer your question.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

I am not sure this is good advice. Apparently her turning off the 12 volt disconnect was how the problem was resolved. Using your advice she would not have been able to do that. I believe their problem was the inverter somehow went offline and when the 12 power was cycled that reset it. My motor home and probably a lot of others feed power to the residential tv and other stuff through the inverter even when on shore power. Actually in my coach I only have one outlet that is available easily that is not powered through the inverter. The other two that are not is one behind the refrigerator and the receptacle for the washing machine

gemini5362 · 01-20-2014, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr4Film

Now that makes total sense as to his problem.

However, it's obvious that the Fleetwood engineering staff has no common sense when it came to designing that electrical set up.

If one were to have a problem with their house batteries or the 12 VDC wiring, regardless of whether you are hooked to shore power or have the generator running, your fridge won't work.

What a waste of brains and food when it all spoils if that occurs.

If it were me, I would change that at least for the fridge and run a dedicated 120 VAC line to the rear of the fridge that also works off of the inverter.

Just my two cents worth of common sense.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

Thank you for your two cents worth of common sense. As you have posted you have not seen his rig and I have not seen it either. However, on my 2005 Allegro Bus there is a quick open panel on the outside of the bus behind the residential refrigerator. When you open this panel you see two 120 VAC electrical outlets. One of the outlets is powered off of the inverter. Mounted directly below that is another outlet which is powered directly off of the main circuit breaker panel and does not go through the inverter. If as you have suggested could happen there is a problem with the house batteries or the inverter I can just open this panel and move the power cord from the inverter powered receptacle to the one powered off of the main breaker panel. I believe this is a very good method of powering the refrigerator and providing for emergencies.

kab449 · 01-21-2014, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lijbs

Keith,

Sorry I didn't see your post earlier. Might have saved you from reading some non-relevant replies. We too have a 2014 36LA and use the operating mode switch on our inverter to switch to charge only when on shore power for extended periods. This means that the incoming 120 volt is channeled right through the inverter to the outlets that are normally supplied power from by the inverter. As you point out when on the road you do need to set the switch back to the Auto position. If you have your DIP switches set for "Auto" operation make sure that you set the proper cutoff voltage so that if there is a power surge or a brown out your inverter will cutout at the right point. If left in the Auto mode and the DIP's aren't set right there might be a campground power issue that will trip your inverter off. This is probably what happened when you first discovered the problem!

Our coach has the Tripp 1250 which seems to be just adequate for the residential fridge and the the 40" with dvd and home theater on at the same time. Anything more than that might be too much and require breaker resetting. I am going to install the remote next month so I'll let you know if the advantages justify the cost. Not having to go into the inverter compartment sounds pretty good to me.

All that aside, I hope you are enjoying your coach. You know you are in possession of one of the industries finest RV's. We love ours and we are really chompin' at the bit for the upcoming season! Perhaps we'll meet on the road!

Hope this helps!

Any ideas on where to mount the remote and route the wires? My inverter has a cat 5 wire plugged into the remote port, but it immediately is spliced to two yellow wires that disappear into the belly of the coach. I'm thinking this is how the touch pad by the refrigerator gets the voltage readout.
We really like the coach having used it 4 times before winterizing. Can't wait till spring.
Don't know if I'll ever get camping on Long Island but we do hit a lot of the ones in PA, DE, and MD during the summer. Perhaps you will get to this area sometime and we'll meet.

gemini5362 · 01-22-2014, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kab449

Any ideas on where to mount the remote and route the wires? My inverter has a cat 5 wire plugged into the remote port, but it immediately is spliced to two yellow wires that disappear into the belly of the coach. I'm thinking this is how the touch pad by the refrigerator gets the voltage readout.
We really like the coach having used it 4 times before winterizing. Can't wait till spring.
Don't know if I'll ever get camping on Long Island but we do hit a lot of the ones in PA, DE, and MD during the summer. Perhaps you will get to this area sometime and we'll meet.

Not trying to be politically correct just curious. ARE you sure that is a cat5 wire port and not just a plain old telephone port ?

kab449 · 01-22-2014, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gemini5362

Not trying to be politically correct just curious. ARE you sure that is a cat5 wire port and not just a plain old telephone port ?

The port is on the side of the inverter and is marked "Remote". It didn't unplug it and count the wires but the cable coming out of the connector is definitely a cat 5 or 6 cable identified by its blue color. The cable is about a foot long. It is stripped back and only two of the wires are connected to two yellow wires that disappear into the belly of the coach.
I do have a telephone jack on the wall at the dinette that comes from the wet bay.